Posted on 08/31/2004 9:19:36 PM PDT by GulliverSwift
NEW YORK - (KRT) - It was a comedy skit that was pretty risque for the Republican Party. It mentioned "Sex and the City," underage drinking and poked direct fun at the two daughters on the other side of the aisle, Vanessa and Alexandra Kerry.
Barbara and Jenna Bush, the irascible 22-year-old twins who have stuck out their tongues at reporters, gotten in trouble for drinking, and landed themselves in the tabloids during their most recent trip to New York, took center stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night.
They were no shrinking violets.
"Our parents have always encouraged us to be independent and dream big," Jenna said. "We spent a lot of time at the White House so when we showed up for the first day we thought we had it all figured out, but apparently my dad already has a chief of staff named Andy."
"When your dad's a Republican and you go to Yale, you learn to stand up for yourself," Barbara said.
Looking out at the family box directly across Madison Square Garden, the girls joked that after Arnold Schwarzenegger's popular speech, in which he laughingly complained about marrying into the liberal Kennedy clan, the Bushes could never complain if one of them married a Democrat. Then they teased their beaming grandmother, the ever-proper Barbara Bush.
"We love you dearly," Jenna told the laughing former first lady. "But you're just not very hip."
They used an example from HBO.
"She thinks `Sex and the City' is something married people do but never talk about," Jenna said to even more laughter from the packed convention floor.
By contrast, the girls told the audience that their parents were at least partially on the cutting edge when it came to pop culture. They said the Bushes knew the "difference between mono and Bono." They quoted a popular rap song by the group OutKast, saying that if they really begged their parents, they could probably get the president and the first lady to "shake it like a Polaroid picture."
The political prerogative of a convention is to put a party's best foot forward and fast forward through any missteps. Instead, the Bush twins tackled their embarrassing incidents head-on.
"We spent the last four years trying to stay out of the spotlight," Jenna Bush said, alluding to her now-famous underage drinking escapades. "Sometimes we did a little better job than others."
Their speech on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden was certainly their most visible moment while visiting New York this week. But they haven't exactly been staying in their hotel rooms. While making the rounds of parties at hot Manhattan clubs, Barbara managed to land herself on the front page of a New York tabloid after a photographer caught her dancing with what has been reported as a handsome Ecuadorian playboy. Jenna, for her part, has earned her mother's description of "impulsive" after being charged with underage drinking during college and for sticking out her tongue at reporters last month.
The Republicans laughed at the sisters' routine Tuesday. How could they not? The twins may have been a little off-color, but they were charming, too.
They made fun of themselves. They mocked their politically powerful family. And they took a quick swipe at an almost-too-good-to-be-true story the Kerry daughters told at the Democratic convention about how their father had once saved a family hamster by giving it CPR.
"We had a hamster, too," Barbara said. "Let's just say ours didn't make it."
Perhaps the only line that the party faithful - particularly the grandmothers among them - couldn't take was the light-hearted dig at Barbara Bush. Even as the former first lady laughed and shook her hands in jest at her granddaughters, a little gasp could be heard from the crowd.
"Oooooh," one female delegate said to the walking woman next to her. "They're going to go to hell for that one."
But I still thought it was cute. And you'd never see the Dems do anything as relaxed and informal as their speech.
Was tolerable. Would have been cuter if they were 12 years old.
The "Sex and the City" joke was unnecessary and I'm sure offended most in the room.
Their delivery stunk, they aren't as political as the Kerrys, but guess what? The only thing anyone remembers about the Kerry girls' speech is the stupid hamster thing.
And the last time we saw them they were getting booed.
The jokes would have been funny from 16 year olds. Neither seems like a brain surgeon.
But to be honest? I was too busy enjoying just looking at them. In that respect they hit it out of the park.
No one will remember they even spoke tomorrow, but man, they turned out cute!
Someone please explain to me the joke about the Hamster. I think it has something to do with Kerry and now that I think about it I do recall seeing this picture of a Hamster floating around on some Kerry threads but I have no idea what is going on. Please enlighten me!
Well... I'm their age, and I just kind of stared at Barbara to be honest.
Lighten up... That's what makes this family great. They don't pretend to be anything they're not. These girls were who they are. They said they weren't political, and they made a point of saying the biggest thing they learned from their parents was to have a sense of humor. And when I see George Bush sometimes I think the only thing that gets him through some of the crap he has to go through is his sense of humor and his love for his women. That's what I love about George.
Kerry's daughters told a story at the DNC convention about how they had a pet hamster and John gave it CPR.
I thought they were terrible and detracted from the evening.
Arnold was great.
Laura was very good.
There are men more than twice your age who do just the same thing.
In total agreement here!
""Oooooh," one female delegate said to the walking woman next to her. "They're going to go to hell for that one."
and with that shot you can see where the MSM is going to go with the twins, they were sassy and risque! old prudes in the audience didn't like it. predictable.
And just why did he want that hampster to live so much that he risked his own life by pulling it out of the water and giving it CPR?
You're setting up for a military medal joke....
Hamster story: During the DNC, one of Kerry's daughters tried to portray her dad as a hero. He rescued a hamster which had fallen into a lake (inside his cage) and adminstered CPR. Supposedly the hamster survived. :)
Honestly ,I did not care at all for their speech.
Arnold was great.
Laura was very good.
Yes and the twins were the PERFECT transition between Arnie and Laura.....that's why both Arnie and Laura came over even better....fantastic programming .
Dims on suicide watch (again)
You're kidding me! That sounds like something taken out of that movie "Meet the Parents."
They brought home to me what I like best about George W and Laura Bush: That they are like the people you meet in real life. Very natural and human.
Most politicians and their families (in both parties) appear very plastic and unnatural. I guess that some would have liked to hear them dissertate on some foreign or domestic policy. That would have been a creepy-clintonesque ploy to me.
I am sure that most parents have had to sit through 'so-so' music recitals and really bad school plays. This was a pretty big event in that regard. The Parents smile and love the kids no matter if they hit all the notes or not, and their friends are polite. This site is a friend to that family, and I think we should refrain from trashing the kids, myself.
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